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Danaea kalevala is a species of fern belonging to the family Marattiaceae. It is endemic to rainforests of the Lesser Antilles islands in the Caribbean.

Danaea kalevala
Danaea kalevala in Guadeloupe, with botanist Christenhusz (honored Kalevala)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
Clade:	Tracheophytes
Division:	Polypodiophyta
Class:	Polypodiopsida
Order:	Marattiales
Family:	Marattiaceae
Genus:	Danaea
Species:	D. kalevala
Binomial name
Danaea kalevala Christenh.

This includes the islands of: Saint Kitts, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinique, Saint Vincent, and Grenada.

Description

Danaea kalevala plants are large, up to 200 centimetres (79 in) tall. They have radially arranged creeping rhizomes to 15 centimetres (5.9 in) thick and pinnate leaves. The pinna apices are finely denticulate.

Danaea kalevala was named by Dutch botanist Maarten Christenhusz in honor of Finland, his host country. The Kalevala is the Finnish people's heroic epic and national reference.

Distribution

In the wild Danaea kalevala is rare. On the type locality along Trace des Jésuites, in Martinique, only five plants were found in 2003.

Even though the species is not uncommon in southern parts of Guadeloupe, from most other islands the plants are only known from old collections. The species is thus endangered.

This species cannot be cultivated, because the cultivation requirements of Danaea ferns are still unknown.

See also

• Ptisana purpurascens a related plant from Ascension Island.
• Ptisana salicina, from New Zealand.

References

• Christenhusz, M. J. M., 2006. Three new species of Danaea from French Guiana and the Lesser Antilles. Annales Botanici Fennici 43: 212–219.

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